


we said out loud, we never said

by naimeria



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Cuddles, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, OT3, Team Feels, kind of?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-19
Updated: 2015-02-19
Packaged: 2018-03-13 18:01:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3391013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/naimeria/pseuds/naimeria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He isn’t sure which of them stumbles (and because he isn’t sure, that probably means it was him), but they’re suddenly in the grass, everything akimbo and evening dew immediately bringing them to uncomfortable dampness. Dick rides out the nausea as he stares up at the stars, watching his breath curl in the air and vanish.</p><p>Or, these three losers are bad captives, even worse at relieving information, and truly awful at staying put.</p>
            </blockquote>





	we said out loud, we never said

**Author's Note:**

  * For [theLiterator](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theLiterator/gifts).



> Happy birthday, lovely lady! 
> 
> (I just had to write these guys, since it's thanks to them that we met, after all.)

“Come on, just a bit further. Should bring us in range.”

They’re a sort of hodgepodge of limbs, all leaning at embarrassing angles on one another as they make slow progress up the latest hill. Dirt catches on bare toes and digs into scrapes and scratches, but they’re alive, so none of them feels wont to complain.

“In range?” Dick asks, because his head is throbbing with his heartbeat and he feels like he’s walking through a bounce-house.

“So M’gann can hear us, Robin,” Kaldur explains, tone soothing and level, and Dick wants to stamp a foot at the familiar and unyielding patience.

“Right.”

He isn’t sure which of them stumbles (and because he isn’t sure, that probably means it's him), but they’re suddenly in the grass, everything akimbo and evening dew immediately bringing them to uncomfortable dampness. Dick rides out the nausea as he stares up at the stars, watching his breath curl in the air and vanish.

“Are you kidding me?” Artemis brings an arm up and then lets it fall back in the grass, just inside of Dick’s peripheral. Her hair is tickling his nose. He must have made some kind of noise, because Artemis places a hand on his chest, feather-light. “Okay, Boy Concussion, just keep your pretty mouth shut and focus on getting up.”

He mouths the words  _pretty mouth_  and Kaldur gives a chuckle beside him. “It would be wise to let us do the heavy lifting.”

“You got it the worst, Kal,” Dick says. “Arm’s broken.” Talking sensibly is hard. At least he hasn’t yakked yet.

“I’ll be fine.”

“You guys need to learn to keep your mouths shut,” Artemis says. For someone who seemed keen on getting up off the grass, she hasn’t moved. “Torture always goes easier if you keep the taunting to a minimum.”

Dick wrinkles his nose and wants to call her a hypocrite. He must say so out loud, because she snorts.

“Hey, I only piped up after both of you were down for the count.”

Dick wants to pry, dig in until she confesses all her father’s put her through, these torture courses she’s undoubtedly had to endure. She’d been the best, to be true, a gag in Dick’s mouth forcing Kaldur to finish what he’d started; diversion first, then playing dumb. It had been in the middle of that ploy that his arm had been smacked over the arm of the chair, and Dick’s writhing and resulting almost-escape was rewarded with a crack to the back of the head with a sawed-off. Only after that did Artemis start talking.

He bites his tongue and shifts closer to Kaldur, his fever warm skin comforting. He wants to distance himself from the thought, of Artemis and her family’s sick training and the fact that it’s his fault Kaldur’s arm is currently a hideous shade of purple. The Atlantean lifts his undamaged arm and drapes it over his chest, forearm grazing Artemis' hand, and Dick is grateful for the silent comfort.

“We shouldn’t stay here,” Artemis says into the silence. “They could catch up to us.”

“We had a head start, and are classically trained to avoid being seen. I brought us through two streams in case they have hounds in their possession, and Robin looped their footage for at least a half an hour after we were gone. I doubt they will find us now.”

“Fucking MacGyver,” Artemis grouses. Dick hums and burrows closer to Kaldur. “You saying you want to spend the night in a muddy field in forty-two degree weather, with half soaked clothes and Dick already shivering?”

“Am not.”

“I’m afraid you are, Richard,” Kaldur says, voice vibrating through Dick’s cheek, and dammit if he didn’t always go the full name tactic when he wanted to be listened to. He tries calling mentally for M’Gann, Wally, Conner, but no one responds, and he huffs.

“Maybe they can just. Find us?”

“Dream world, kiddo.”

He yanks a tuft of her hair. She growls deep in her throat, always a favorite sound of his, but shifts closer. She’s wearing the face of someone who’s just been told she’s losing car privileges for the week. “Fine, but only for a few minutes. To catch our breath.”

They sit in companionable silence for a while, nursing their hurts and cuddling close. Kaldur breathing deep beneath him, arm wrapped loosely around his shoulders, combined with Artemis’ soft and motionless body are slowly lulling him to sleep. The nausea has tampered down, and the vivid memory of assault rifles and twine fades to the distance.

“Thanks for the interference, by the way,” Dick says to the darkness. Neither of them jump. “Didn’t want another broken finger.”

“Yeah, well,” Artemis says, soft voice next to his ear; he’s always found it charming that she demands respect and gratitude, but the second she gets it she goes all wiggly and bashful. He says so and gets a light smack for his troubles. “My own haven’t been broken in a while, and they didn’t even do my bow hand, amateurs.”

“I am sorry either of you had to come to harm,” Kaldur rumbles, and Dick feels a bit like a cat, melted against the warmest surface he can find.

“Not your fault.”

“Batman might not agree.”

“Batman  _will_ agree,” Dick says, voice louder than strictly necessary.

“I love when you get all fierce,” Artemis says, shifting and planting a kiss to the tip of his nose. He wrinkles it at her and grabs at her waist, mindful of the shallow gash there as he pulls her closer. The dew is still seeping into what’s left of his uniform, but the cold feel distant, his core stubbornly warm despite the conditions. The only part of him not being touched by Kaldur and Artemis is his left calf.

“We should get moving,” Kaldur says after a comfortable silence, sounding apologetic.

Dick whines, he’s not ashamed. A hand cards through his hair, blunt fingernails scratching his scalp, and another joins it, fingers thick but feather light in their touch. One of the hands yanks at his hair a bit, and he’d bet ten bucks that it’s Artemis. “Fine, fine, I’m up mom,” he says, and the hand yanks a bit harder, but it’s worth it, pretends the tug didn't hurt the clotting gash at the base of his skull. In truth, Dick’s always liked that side of Artemis, that motherly fondness she sometimes shows. 

Kaldur winds up leveraging them up. Artemis lists dangerously once upright and Dick makes a grab for her unbroken fingers, but his balance is shot too, so it takes Kaldur and his one arm to keep them all from falling again. Once he gets past the shame of being off balance (because  _really_ ), Dick wraps his arms around himself and shivers. 

"Okay, ready to be in the Bioship now," he says. 

"I second that. Form-fitting chairs, blankets, and - it's  _dry._ No offense, Kaldur."

"None taken," he says. He looks like he wants to say more, but he's gone a bit pale, and Robin immediately wants to poke at his arm. It wasn't an awful break, no exposed bone, but broken bones suck no matter the type. The small break in motion seems to have done him well overall, though - he feels a bit more focused, more grounded than he did before they'd stopped.

"I think we're all overdue for poking and prodding, anyway. Arty needs her shots."

"Ha ha," she says while flicking her ponytail over her shoulder and onto his, smirking when he sputters through a mouthful of her hair. 

They resume their trudge, opting for silence. Dick is grateful; now that they're walking, it's becoming more apparent that his balance is well and truly shot, and the ground is starting to rock again. The head wound isn't bleeding, but a concussion is what it is. Bruce is gonna have a fit. 

A large lake to their right is the only landscape cue they have to work with. After they pass over a particularly steep hill (one Artemis had practically carried Dick up), they see a ramshackle cabin about a mile out. "Well, at least we have a back-up plan if we can't get ahold of the others," Artemis says.

A few seconds later, as if on command, three different voices are suddenly screaming in his ears. Kaldur winces, Artemis yells in surprise, but Dick barely sees them, can’t do anything past the white hot pain in his head, until he’s stumbling, leaning over and puking bile in the grass. 

His world is reduced to burning in his throat and trying to breathe past the nausea, knowing it'll soon pass but not yet soothed by the notion. “Yeah, we’re okay. Well, Rob’s currently throwing up his stomach lining, but other than that, peachy.” He hears Artemis' agitation over his muted gagging, but doesn't care enough to try and conjure a reply. 

There’s a hand on his back as he gets it in control, but it’s no good, the nausea’s sticking around, so he sits down a foot or two away and tucks his head between his knees. Artemis is talking to their team, making them talk quieter and giving off bits and pieces of their location, all while Kaldur is a solid presence at his side.

“I’m good,” he says after a moment. “It was the surprise of it, I think. I’m good.”

_Wally, you there?_

_Yeah, dude, you had us worried. You sure you're alright?_

_Artemis had the truth of it. We are banged up, but well enough to travel. We are beside a large lake, and we can see a small cabin._

_We're in the Bioship, we'll come find you now,_ Connor responds to Kaldur's level tone with one of his own, though Dick can hear the concern. 

 _I'm so sorry we didn't find you sooner,_ M'gann says, and she really sounds it, not that he's surprised. 

 _Not your fault,_ he says. 

  _Alright, let's have some radio silence. We're gonna go ahead and wait here, since Rob's not feeling so hot. See you soon,_  Artemis says, then looks at Kaldur, as if worried she spoke out of turn. Kaldur merely cocks a brow at her. 

"It's never been that kind of leadership, Artemis. You know full well you can speak freely."

"Yeah, I know, I just," he says, visibly grabbing for words. She's shivering now, too, her unsure words curling in the air between them.

"Will one on you two lovebirds help me up, I'm sitting too close to my puke for comfort," Dick says, sparing her the awkward explanation.  She rolls her eyes but smiles at him and lifts him up, gritting her teeth as the move pulls at her side. 

"I'm not gonna dignify that with an answer," she says, flicking his ear. He leans up on his toes and aims a kiss at her cheek, but gets the corner of her mouth instead. She replies with that throaty laugh he loves. 

"We might as well settle down. I'd rather you two not fall into the lake, if it's all the same." Kaldur's eyes are warm as he regards them, good hand motioning to the grass. 

They move a few feet away, then settle in the driest patch they can find. Dick wiggles his toes in the grass, finds they're a bit numb, and can't bring himself to care. They quickly form a warm cuddle pile, all tucked limbs curled against one another once more. He feels a bit loopy, knows that's probably not a good thing, and can't care much about that, either. Soon they'll all be warm and asleep in the sure hands of their team. 

“When we get back to the tower, I expect fluffed pillows and at least three blankets.” Artemis turns her head, catching both of their eyes before looking up at the sky. “And, you know, you two in it.”

Kaldur kisses her temple, big hand pressed to her hair. "I don't think we'd have it any other way."

 


End file.
